Living in the middle of a harbor town has always had its perks. People would come in and out of this town, staying in the Red Neighborhood Inn that was placed right near the coast of Forest Harbor, allowing workers, including Ruby, to get tons of tips, just for being the house keepers. The gorgeous view of the snowy mountains reflected over the dirtied water. However, there was one thing that sort of drew people away from staying at these harbors; and that would be the horrendous amounts of kidnappings and murders that took place, especially in this settlement. People would go missing left and right, but there was never any clues of who was doing this.
Another disappearance of a thirty one year old male… The sound of the radio’s message was scrambled due to the poor reception. Ruby was rushing around the inn, trying to find the keys to unlock the cabinet that contained the food for the guests. The lights were dim because she did not have the chance to change out the lightbulbs. Her chocolatey brown hair was tied up in two pigtails, her bangs hanging down in her face. Her red and white plaid dress reached above her knees, so when she bent over to pick up the golden keys off the floor, all the drunken males stared at her.
Creeps, she thought, quickly pulling herself back up as she unlocked the door, pulling out a couple of bottles of beer for the two males sitting up front. She tried not to look them in the eyes because she knew they would not stop talking. The radio continued to talk, she listened carefully to the words, Suspect is male….-out six feet tall…-ig-ht hair and…. Now it is time for the weather forecast. She took in a deep breath as she turned left to begin to wipe the counter off with the little gray cloth that had cleaner on it. The smell of the cleaner wasn’t too overpowering, however, the smell of lemons lingered in the air.
The sound of the rain pattering on the windows was relaxing, taking the edge off, allowing Ruby to sit down, counting the money in the register.
“A hundred and one, a hundred and two…” she mumbled to herself. However, she lost count when she heard the little bell chime, allowing her to prepare for the new guest that entered.
“Hi!” she exclaimed, standing up from her seat. “Welcome to the Red Neighborhood Inn! My name is Ruby, but you can call me Red Riding Hood if you’d like.” Her smile was warm as she looked at the male walking in.
The male shook out his hair that was soaked from the rain, hanging up his jacket on the rack. His hair was golden, the curls still staying in place. He was slender, but you could tell that he worked out, due to the slight tightness of his suit. “Well, thank you, darlin’,” he said, his voice having a slight eerie tone to it, sending a shiver down Ruby’s spine.
“Of course, sir. What brings you here to Forest Harbor?”
“Well…” he took a deep breath, “It’s kind of hard to explain, especially to someone as beautiful as you.”
Ruby acted flustered, but in reality, she was very disturbed. “Well, are you staying for the night? Or are you staying for a few days?” Ruby’s voice remained calm as she looked him up and down with suspicion.
“I’m here for a few days, darlin’. Would you happen to still have a room?”
She quickly grabbed the key and handed it to him, “Of course we do, silly! It’s room thirteen, which would be right up these stairs and to the right.”
He reached for the key, taking it delicately from in between her fingers, giving her a slight smirk. Ruby felt her cheeks flush, looking away quickly. When she did this, the man stated, “I never introduced myself. I’m Jack,” he reached his hand out for a handshake. She took his hand and nodded. “Well, I am going to head up to my room now. Do you think you could bring up a coffee for me?”
“Oh, of course! Is black okay?”
“Yeah, that’s perfect actually,” he chuckled, pushing himself up from the round-seated chair making his way to the stairwell. Turning around, he said, “I’ll see you up there, darlin’.”
Ruby made the coffee rather quickly since she didn’t have to add anything to it, pouring the black liquid into the beige-colored mug. When she gave him the coffee in his little room, they began to talk about random things. The weather, her job, where he came from, and so on. This continued on for days, until he asked a rather weird question.
“Hey, Ruby?” he said, looking at the woman sitting across from his bed.
Her hair was still tied into the little pigtails, pulled to the front of her to make them more visible. She tilted her head, “Yeah, what is it?”
“Do you live on your own?”
Ruby’s smile dropped into a confused expression. She quickly balled up her emotions to hide them. “Well, no, I don’t. I actually live with my grandmother,” she looked to the left of the room, “and a puppy, named Woofy.” Her voice was strong, the man listened to her, smirking.
“That’s nice. Um… Where would that happen to be?”
Ruby didn’t think anything of it and strongly said, “Forest Lane, right by the brook.”
The man let out a grim chuckle, muttering something to himself. She turned to look at him, but she realized the clock blinked: 10:45 p.m.
Ruby rushed to get up, heading for the door, “I’m sorry to be abrupt, however, I do have to go home. My grandmother is waiting for me. She says she had a surprise.” The man nodded as she put on her little red coat, the sound of music playing faintly in the background. The sound of thunder was loud, the lightning brightening the darkened sky. She made her way out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Locking up the Red Neighborhood Inn was rather quick, she placed the keys inside of her weaved basket. The smell of rain overpowered her nose, the raindrops heavy as they fell from the sky, forcing her to put her hood up. As she made her way into the forest, she heard a set of footsteps behind her, making her turn around. Nothing. She was never afraid of walking in the forest late at night, she actually loved it. However, tonight felt different. As she inched closer and closer to her location, she saw the little red door that was held up by the white walls. The paint was peeling, revealing the woody material behind it. However, one thing caught her eye. The windows. Usually, her grandmother would leave the lights on, but this time, the lights were off. The surprise, she thought to herself, pushing the door in. The door screeched on its hinges as she shut it, a loud slam echoed in the hallway.
“Granny! Woofy! I’m home!” she exclaimed, walking towards her grandmother’s room, the curtains revealed a silhouette of a figure, laying on the bed.
“Yes, dear, come in,” her voice was raspy. When Ruby pulled open the curtains, the figure was revealed. A blanket was pulled up over her nose, the bonnet covering her hair, causing her glasses to become tilted on her face.
“Granny? Are you sick again? I told you not to go out in the rain,” she said in an annoyed tone. As she said that, a loud thump along with what sounded like a muffled voice came from within the broom closet towards the end of her room, however, Ruby didn’t flinch. “What was that?”
“Oh, it was nothing, darlin’. One of the brooms must have fallen from inside,” the voice exclaimed, almost as if it didn’t want her to check it out.
Ruby rolled her eyes, letting out a huff, “Grandma, what big ears you have,” she revealed a slight smirk in the darkness of the room.
“Well, the better to hear you with, my dear…” the voice stated.
“Grandma…” the sound of a metallic screech filled the empty silence, she could see his eyes grow large, “What big eyes you have,” as she said this, she revealed the giant knife from her basket, pushing it directly into the center of his chest, letting out a grim chuckle. “Better to see me with?” The man let out a gasp as he realized that he didn’t stand a chance.
She pulled off the blanket and bonnet to reveal Jack, she began to shake her head, tisking, “I knew it,” she muttered as she removed him from the bed, his body landed with a thud on the hardwood floor. Making her way to the broom closet, she carefully twisted the golden knob, letting the door open. She saw her grandmother standing in the closet, the only source of light was the little lightbulb dangling on a string. Her grandmother had been tied up with the thickest rope Jack could find in their house, along with a towel stuffed in her mouth.
Ruby pulled the towel out so her grandmother could talk. Her grandmother peered down at the floor to see Jack’s corpse. Her voice was frail and delicate, “You’re turning out great dear, this time he didn’t suspect a thing.”
“Well, I learned from the best, Granny Woofy,” Ruby’s grim smile spread across her face as she untied her grandmother, Woofy smiled back at her. “We should probably clean this up, we don’t want the floors to be tainted,” Ruby had stated, “Especially with the blood of another killer.”